Influence and mitigation of interference by LID and LETID in damp heat and thermal cycling tests on PV modules

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • E. Fokuhl - , Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Author)
  • G. Mülhöfer - , Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Author)
  • V. Wesselak - , Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences (Author)
  • T. Mikolajick - , Chair of Nanoelectronics, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • D. Philipp - , Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Author)
  • P. Gebhardt - , Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Author)

Abstract

Accelerated aging tests as defined in testing standards such as IEC 61215 are important to assure the quality and safety of photovoltaic (PV) modules. The test conditions often contain high temperatures and sometimes carrier injection, which can cause light induced degradation (LID) effects, such as boron-oxygen LID (BO LID) or light and elevated temperature induced degradation (LETID). These effects can interfere with the interpretation of results or produce false fails or passes in certification tests. To address the most severe cases, an option for a regeneration procedure for BO LID after damp heat was recently included in IEC 61215:2021. However, positive performance deviations due to BO LID, as well as the general influence of LETID, are still not excluded. Variations of damp heat and thermal cycling tests on mini-modules built from the monocrystalline passivated emitter and rear cells (PERC) are performed and combined with latest approaches for BO LID regeneration, BO degradation, and LETID temporary recovery. The results show that LETID can superimpose procedures applied for BO LID regeneration but can be easily temporary recovered by one additional step. A combined stabilization procedure, which can exclude influences from both BO LID and LETID on accelerated aging test results, is proposed.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number063501
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Volume14
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

WOS 000885698200001
ORCID /0000-0003-3814-0378/work/142256252

Keywords

DFG Classification of Subject Areas according to Review Boards

Subject groups, research areas, subject areas according to Destatis

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Silicon solar-cells, Carrier-induced degradation, Light-induced degradation, Elevated-temperature, Kinetics, Stabilization, Illumination, Regeneration, Stability, Gallium